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Azamara's recent Europe summer cruise promotion is making me wonder if the line is having more trouble than some of the others in filling up their ships. Can any recent cruisers tell me if there were empty cabins on their cruises? I'd also love for people sailing in the next few months under the new Azamara Club Cruises pricing to report back and let us know whether ships are full or not.

Just back from the April 1 Journey cruise. The ship was about 1/2 empty. There were many TAs on board taking a seminar. At times, it felt like I was one of hand full of non TAs cruising. There were so few people that there was only 1 nightly show in the Caberet Lounge. There was always empty seats everywhere. It was nice not to fight the crowds. Not a problem getting reservations at Prime C or Aquilina...name your day and time...not a problem...and it was never full. Service was excellent.

I've been wondering that myself. I've been chatting on the roll call for our cruise in August with some folks from the UK where Azamara is offering big promotions (OBC and air and big reduction on prices) for the cruise. And none of the cabin categories are sold out at this point. You have to wonder how much longer Azamara can afford to sail with only 1/2 or 2/3 full ships.

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We leave in two weeks and I would say atleast 1/3 of the ship is still unbooked...the May 9th from Athens is about 1/2 booked. I think many are holding off to see what happens with this new marketing strategy...or perhaps they will have to fight to get the clientel they say they want to have...I hope they are in it for the long haul cause it is not gonna be easy to bring people over from Oceania and such.

But, I will enjoy the relaxed environment...looking forward to a wonderful time.

Unfortunately, this is exactly my feeling as well. Looking at several cruise lines for the upcoming months, Azamara shows plenty of availability where others are fully booked or nearly fully booked.

It’s hard to tell why this is the case, but I do feel that Azamara is not taking her new Club upgrade very seriously. Their website is still (2 weeks after the official Club chance) not updated. Still it shows that suites are getting 3 complementary nights in a Specialty restaurant and nothing is mentioned on the inclusive soft drinks, wines, gratuities, etc. (other than a “take a peek” page) Also there are a lot of uncertainties with regards to their Club Voyage and the status you’ll get being a member of the Captain’s Club and Crown and Anchor.

All in all I do find the transition and transformation towards the Club not very professional. Especially since Azamara had over 3 months to have it all in order (after announcing the upgrade). New guests that are looking towards an Azamara cruise only do see huge prices and are not aware of what the product actually means or contains. Combined with the mixed reviews it will withhold people to book and wait and see.

In my opinion Azamara really has to deliver the upcoming months and show their status of a NEW AZAMARA being something different and special. Otherwise I’ll predict a not so long life for the Azamara Club. Especially since the competitors do have things in order and are at least one step ahead of Azamara right now.

We will give it a chance upcoming May and if it’s not fulfilling we surely will not reconsider Azamara as a serious option and move to Oceania instead.

I just checked on a website that shall be unnamed the status of capacity for Journey on our May 2nd departure. I had not checked it in a few days and yes...about only 1/2 booked(maybe slightly over 1/2). several suites open, many ocean view cabins, 1/2 the balconies...it is sad

And, like the previous poster(sprit) I too feel that they have not really taken this transition as serious as they should have. The website should have been the first thing to be update...it is how most of us shop for our cruises anyway and helps the agents. I am terribly concerned for them in this undertaking of remodeling their company. I still look forward to my journey on Journey and I am sure it will be fabulous.

If Azamara is truly sending out ships that are 40 to 60% full, it would make maketing sense to upgrade their repeat passengers (including elites from Celebrity). At least they'd have appreciative passengers spreading the word.

We're trying A in August, but decided to book 2011 on X. Three extra days, a better itinerary and $900 less. Oceania is just about the. Same per day cost as Azamara on the trips I was looking at, and a similar trip for 9/2010 was totally sold out last October.

Is there a website that one can check capacity without going to each category to find out how many rooms are still open?

The June cruise I'm on (from what I can tell by checking each category) is 84% full. It is the most expensive (by an average of $2000 per person) of the 3 cruises of the same itinerary. It is very strange. I was hoping with the higher cost there will be less people on this particular cruise so there will not be long lines in the morning for omelets.

That's just it! Seems 5 out of the 10 reasons do not apply for this cruise. Very strange.

Reasons 1, 2 and 3 do not apply here since there are 2 following cruises (in July) visiting the same ports that are much cheaper. And I thought kids might still be in school (final's week) when the ship sails so July would have been better (if one was to bring kids).

Reason 4: The airfare is obscene since it is 2 one way tickets: to Athens and out of Istanbul.

Reason 8: I have been keeping my eyes open for incentives for this particular cruise, but have yet to find one. And yes, I have tracked it for months in case a good deal pops up.

Only thing I can come up with as a lay person is that this cruise hit the popular vacation spots just before the height of the tourist season (July and August); but, shouldn't the shoulder season be cheaper? (Like Alaska cruises for example.)

That's just it! Seems 5 out of the 10 reasons do not apply for this cruise. Very strange.

Reasons 1, 2 and 3 do not apply here since there are 2 following cruises (in July) visiting the same ports that are much cheaper. And I thought kids might still be in school (final's week) when the ship sails so July would have been better (if one was to bring kids).

Reason 4: The airfare is obscene since it is 2 one way tickets: to Athens and out of Istanbul.

Reason 8: I have been keeping my eyes open for incentives for this particular cruise, but have yet to find one. And yes, I have tracked it for months in case a good deal pops up.

Only thing I can come up with as a lay person is that this cruise hit the popular vacation spots just before the height of the tourist season (July and August); but, shouldn't the shoulder season be cheaper? (Like Alaska cruises for example.)

Reason ...Kids are in school...Sorry school vacations all over the world, united states and even the state are completly differnet now
there are kids who can and will be out of school.
Many of the kids I know are out of school in May. This includes
public, private grammar, middle and high school.

Reason cheaper in JULY...it is hotter than hell in that part of the world
in July and August, so its more popular to travel prior to that

Reason 4 ..The air is not 2 one way tickets ..It's called an open jaw.
Which when going to Europe it can either be the same as a roundtrip to the same destination or just about 100USD more because of a taxes change.
the air is more expensive because they use more fuel to get there..
Rome, London, Barcelona, are all much closer to the USA...
Just a side note ...I have personally flown in and out of all cities numerous times.

Shoulder season should be cheaper...but there are many of us who travel specifically in shoulder season to avoid weather, high prices, and crowds..

Shoulder season in Europe is considered April and May or Mid Sept and Oct.

Last year when times were really tough my cruise in November took a long time to fill up. Of course Azamara offered various promotions which they may continue to do. By the time we left it was pretty well fully booked. I think there may have been a couple obstructed view rooms left but that's all.

My cruise for next March is no longer on special through the online company I used, but the March 17 cruise still is. I know our Roll Call is getting busier.

I had no trouble getting an open jaw flight last year, into Rome and out of Athens. I also did this in South America where I flew on points and this option was suggested to me by Airmiles.

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We were on the Feb 6 Quest from Hong Kong and our ship was not full. I know this because they gave away the Penthouse in a Bingo game which we won. Interestingly, with the possible exception of one short Celebrity cruise in the Caribbean we took in 2008, every other ship we have been on has been sold out including Swan Hellenic/Abercrombie & Kent in Antarctica, SilverSea in the Arctic, and multiple HAL cruises mostly in Europe as well as smaller local ships in Galapagos and in Australia.

I had never heard of giving away a stateroom in a Bingo game before. It was a great way to pull in extra revenue but than I remembered other ships I had been on did not have this opportunity.

Azamara's recent Europe summer cruise promotion is making me wonder if the line is having more trouble than some of the others in filling up their ships. Can any recent cruisers tell me if there were empty cabins on their cruises? I'd also love for people sailing in the next few months under the new Azamara Club Cruises pricing to report back and let us know whether ships are full or not.

From what we can read on the web, many voyages are far from full. What we are wondering is whether their increased pricing can stick. As customers, we hope prices will return to where they were six months ago, or at least the increase reduced.

Unfortunately, this is exactly my feeling as well. Looking at several cruise lines for the upcoming months, Azamara shows plenty of availability where others are fully booked or nearly fully booked.

It’s hard to tell why this is the case, but I do feel that Azamara is not taking her new Club upgrade very seriously. Their website is still (2 weeks after the official Club chance) not updated. Still it shows that suites are getting 3 complementary nights in a Specialty restaurant and nothing is mentioned on the inclusive soft drinks, wines, gratuities, etc. (other than a “take a peek” page) Also there are a lot of uncertainties with regards to their Club Voyage and the status you’ll get being a member of the Captain’s Club and Crown and Anchor.

All in all I do find the transition and transformation towards the Club not very professional. Especially since Azamara had over 3 months to have it all in order (after announcing the upgrade). New guests that are looking towards an Azamara cruise only do see huge prices and are not aware of what the product actually means or contains. Combined with the mixed reviews it will withhold people to book and wait and see.

In my opinion Azamara really has to deliver the upcoming months and show their status of a NEW AZAMARA being something different and special. Otherwise I’ll predict a not so long life for the Azamara Club. Especially since the competitors do have things in order and are at least one step ahead of Azamara right now.

We will give it a chance upcoming May and if it’s not fulfilling we surely will not reconsider Azamara as a serious option and move to Oceania instead.

My feeling is that Azamara over-promised and under-delivered.
In addition, their huge price increase put them in direct competition with Oceania and some other Luxury lines. In that competition Azamara will lose.

Can you tell me how you know if the ship is full? We are on Quest May 15 Italy. Just curious if you can tell me.

You can call Azamara and ask for your specific voyage. Or alternatively, go to their website and pretend to book for your given voyage. While it will not list the entire availability, you can get a hint by seeing how many categories are still available. Finally, ask your travel agent if you have one!